Still alive and well...

Touching the dog... all by herself for the first time!!!

Ty and Tamaya playing "pretend to sleep" with all her dolls also all tucked in.

Laughing because they are now awake!!!

Pretty little girl...

looking outside the window... waiting for Ty?

I can't believe how busy life has gotten now with our new addition. Tamaya is doing GREAT, she is now best friends with our dog, she calls me when she wakes up now :-) and she is just to cute! We finally got her health card and brought her to the doctors. She is right where she should be for her age, which is very rare in international adoptions. We got her vaccination schedule started and we have some blood test to get done, but we will get to that next week. I don't want to overwhelm her with needles. Tamaya had her first taste of a McDonald's kids meal yesterday. She ate the entire thing. I couldn't believe it!

Ty is doing better each day. He and his sister are playing so much better, there is normal sibling rivalry and besides being tired from long days at school, emotionally he seems to be "coming back" and adjusting well. He had a Terry Fox walk with his class and parents were invited to join their children. His teachers all told me he was doing great and listened well... so I am glad to hear he does actually act better with others than at home..lol His teacher also told me that she had a good laugh. She was telling Ty how well he was doing and he went up to her and said " Since I am doing so good, can you call my mom and let her know"! She explained it took many, many good days before she calls mom's for good behavior, but that it was a good try. My little man is too cute!!!

As for me, I think life as a parent of 2 is becoming everyday life. I seem to be adjusting well, routines are falling into place. (THANK GOODNESS!!!!) My laundry and house are back in order and caught up. Everything seems to be taking twice as long to accomplish now... bathing, creaming and hair styles, everything take so long now..lol but I have a system. The kid bath together, I get her out while Ty is still playing, cream her, brush her teeth and get her pj's on... then its his turn, it takes about an hour, and I am hoping I can get it down to 30-40 mins max..lol Having Steve home on leave is also helping everything come along. It's nice to be able to spend these first few weeks of her being home dual parenting and watching them bond!!!

All in all everything is going well. We are now back home for the weekend. Our families will finally all get to meet Tamaya. We got in late last night and the children barely slept on the way, plus were up super early... should be a great day..lol

Where did the week go?

Wow this week seemed to go by so fast, and so much has happened.

Tamaya has really been adjusting well. We are still working on the sleep thing (her not letting me know she is up!) She is doing much better than what she was while we were in Haiti. She's not as aggressive anymore, she listens very well, and all in all she is loving life here and adjusting very well! Parenting a girl is sooooo different. I just have to tell her something once, she is calm, has an attention span, she is not a runner...lol Yeah I remember SO well the 2's with Ty and they were NOTHING like this..lol

Ty, Ty, Ty... what a little piece of work. As much as I love my son he can certainly get the best of me. I do really understand he is going through soooo much, but.... He has been mean to Tamaya, tells her constantly he doesn't like her that he will bring her back to Haiti, he hits/pushes her. And she just adores him so much, which is hard to watch. He has been bed wetting. He has been sneaking stuff and hiding the evidence (drank a can of cola, I found snack wrappers behind the couch and under the bed). It's going to take a whole lot more work and a whole lot of patience... but we will get through this with him. Thank goodness he is too cute and I am so committed to helping him out..lol

Steve is doing well. Yesterday morning he got out and enjoyed a few hours of hunting with a friend. He is enjoying his roll as a new dad. He has been awesome at helping out and all in all everything in regards to bonding with Tamaya is coming together. I don't know how I would do it all without him. As we speak he is out in the forest fake "hunting" with Ty. Ty has his bright orange hat on, and his water gun..lol Male bonding at it's best!!!

I am adjusting..lol My house is back in order, my laundry is caught up and I am in good spirits. Yesterday was my record hard day and it took everything not to pop a wig. A few days ago I had another bout of "whatever I had" I went to the hospital/clinic to get checked out. I probably brought a little parasite friend home and to make matters worst, I awoke with a major kink in my neck yesterday morning... but all in all everything is working out. I am feeling better, again.

My gosh I love this...

Random pics

Crazy kid...

I can't tell you how glad I am that we are finally dealing with the good/real stuff. The anticipation of her homecoming was long coming and I so dreamt of the day that we would finally be adjusting. Finally I can focus solely on my children and WOW it's so wonderful. So as much as it may sound like I am "complaining" it is the furthest from what I am feeling or doing. I am just trying to journal our adjustments and give all a glimpse of how life is once you add a new adopted child into your life! It's GREAT!!! It's so miraculous and boy oh boy I can't even come close to expressing how much I love my children.

Ty's seems to be doing good at school. He talked about how he made the teacher laugh yesterday by acting like a chicken. I hope it was at an appropriate time 'cause I know he can be a clown sometimes..lol I haven't gotten a note yet from school so I am assuming he is doing OK..lol When we went to get him at the bus stop yesterday afternoon he was sitting in the back with the big kids and he said they all thought he was cute and cool...lol (Our friends daughter/our sitter takes the same bus and he sat with her and met all her friends "the big kids")

We had a rough evening with Ty last night, He was really contrary and wouldn't do anything we asked him at all evening. Finally he had a good cry and a good pout. I think we are getting somewhere. His fits are getting "normal kid" again and not so meltdowny which makes us feel really good and feel like we are doing alright in helping him get through this. I am really doing everything I can to spend extra quality time with him. I was hoping to surprise him with a movie date this weekend, but my Tamaya is not ready to be without maman and be alone with papa yet. So I will organise a movie date for Ty and I for Saturday while she is napping.

Ty had a good morning ;-) He did everything "speedy" and earned a sticker/$0.25. We even made time for a quick game of buckaroo before running out the house. He won, and tonight when he gets in from school we are going to have another match..lol


While I was gone my parents night trained him and the first couple days I was home he regressed and had accidents. He also earns a big sticker is he stays dry and gets a dollar. He has stayed dry for a few nights in a row now ;-) He has decided that he will buy himself a stroller for his dolls with his money. A friend of ours bought one for Tamaya and he thinks it's pretty cool and he insists that he needs one as well ;-)


Tamaya, my dear Tamaya..lol She had a feisty moment yesterday (so I guess my dreaming was exactly that... just a dream!!) She was very much "herself". Steve had left for a couple hours in the afternoon and I guess she felt very comfortable and had a moment. She pushed me when I told her NO and then proceeded to *try* to bite me. After she got her time-out she straightened up and was good again, but I did laugh when it was all done considering I had thought "wow she is being pretty good..lol"

She went to the cats this morning and pet our ol' grumpy Sam. Of the cat she chose to like, he is the one that has the most attitude and if he is not pet where he likes it, he is apt to give a loving little bite. Luckily Steve was watching his/her every move.



I am feeling so much better. I have more energy, I am sleeping better. Yesterday I managed to get my main floor cleaned up. (today I tackle the basement and laundry folding - my million loads... ARGHH) Little miss princess followed me everywhere while I was scrubbing and was a good little helper. This morning she helped make the beds, and loves being a part of whatever I am doing. I was worried about how she would react to the vacuum, she screeched at first and then when I asked if she wanted to help me she ran to me and helped and was no longer scared (THANK GOD, "cause life here without a vacuum would mean a whole lot o hair in the fro's..lol)

Everything is starting to feel like the new normal, I feel like my routine is coming together, and I am going to try real hard to forgive myself if I can't do it all.

My gosh am I ever in awwww and LOVE, LOVE every moment of this!!!

A little adjustment update...

For the most part things are going fairly well and we are taking things around here day by day.. sometimes minute by minute.

Some moments are GREAT and I get chocked up just seeing my children together and other moments I am wondering where I am going to find the strength to deal with certain things. I, of course, wouldn't change it for the world, but some issues have been tough to say the least!

Ty is really having a hard time adjusting to all the changes (mom having been away, school and of course his new sister) and we are working really hard at getting him back to a safe place. He has had a few meltdowns since Tamaya's arrival, but they didn't go as far as they used to (which is a good sign that he *should* bounce back quickly once he is feeling secure again). We are going to continue to work really hard with him and hopefully this will be a thing of the past very soon ;-) I really feel for the poor little guy. His world has changed so much in these past few months and I know that his acting out is part of all the stress he has had to endure. Now that school has started and he likes it, hopefully the stress/anticipation of that will be eliminated a part of his stress and we can work on the new sister deal..lol

The day before yesterday in the morning Ty and Tamaya were playing so great together. It was one of those "wow" moments and I finally felt like both of them started to understand what we expect from them....until later that day when Tamaya awoke from her nap and all hell broke loose and neither of them were cooperative..lol (Yeah I can laugh about it now)

Tamaya is doing good. She is doing better here at home than she was at the hotel. I don't know if her feistyness will come out soon, or maybe being home has broke her of it.. (a girl can dream... right???!!!)

The only O behavior that is very obvious is her not letting me know when she is awake. I have to constantly check to make sure she is not awake and "waiting" for me to come get her. After the first sleepless night of co-sleeping with her and Ty. I opted to let her sleep alone in her own room. I figured considering we had done co-sleeping for almost 2 months and Ty would have a MAJOR problem if his sister was having "sleeping overs" with mom and he wasn't, it was better for everyone sake to have her in her room. I figured it was best to just begin where it would end up being anyways, and she has not protested going to bed once so I figure she must be OK with it.

She is still scared of the dog, but we have been doing "Misty-out" sessions for an hour here and there. Yesterday she played with Ty on the ground while Misty was less than a foot away from her... it's getting better, but she is still not comfortable around her, especially when the dog is hyper. She lets us know when she wants us to put the dog away so it's on her terms.

She is eating well and will try anything. We loved watching her expression yesterday while she tried her first pickle. The funniest part was when she kept taking bite after bite and with every bite she had the same sour reaction.

She's a ham, she is so full of life and my time with her really helped with our AT HOME life. There are many things she got to experience in Haiti that I believe prepared her for her homecoming. In Haiti we went to the supermarket... so she experienced carts, so when we went to Wal-mart it wasn't overload. (plus it was an early Monday run so the store was pretty empty) She is eating much slower and doesn't feel the need to empty her entire plate when she is full. Her mouth fulls/bites are now"normal" sized, she is no longer shoving the entire piece of "whatever" in her mouth. So all in all she is adjusting well. She is getting closer to Steve day by day, but occasionally will not have anything to do with him.

As for me, I'm doing well. I am mentally and physically exhausted, but I seem to be getting into the grove of things. My mom and sister left yesterday and I am hoping to concentrate on getting a routine started. I weighed myself and was surprised to see that I have lost 15 lbs since I left to go to Haiti. I am feeling much better health wise today so hopefully it will stay that way ;-)

I will get back to cleaning the house. My goal is to get the upstairs tackled today and deal with the laundry mound/basement tomorrow! I can do it, yes I can!!!

First day of school...

I expected to be more emotional sending Ty off to school this morning, but I had quite the opposite feeling. ;-) I actually felt a sense of joy and this is probably in part that the morning was stressful to say the least. He certainly fought me and was not cooperative. (more on that later re: the adjustment around here) But we did make it to the bus with time to spare because I introduced the morning sticker reward program. (yeah.. I rock!!!)

We came home, got in the van and met him at school after his bus arrived to make sure he had a good bus ride! It was our little plan for months and I was so glad I was able to follow through on my promise to him. I arrived after he was in the school yard and he was chasing the older girls around.. such a little flirt..lol

So besides that the house is very, very quiet. Tamaya is down for her nap and I can actually hear myself think. I am taking this afternoon easy and will indulge in a little nap. Since coming back home I haven't been sleeping well and my gut is still not right, so I figure a little me time is in order to refresh.

This is all just sooooo WOW!!!

I am sure the next few weeks I will be blogging like crazy. I feel like I have so much to talk about and let out.

Finally having her home is absolutely fabulous. To wake up and not have to think of "when is my life going to be able to start" is what I have been looking forward to for so long. No adoption stress... just being able to be a parent to 2 and just concentrated solely on them and their needs is so wonderful.

I am so happy I had the chance to do the trauma therapy training. It is helping me understand both of my children so well. Ty is doing great - I have been able to recognise and understanding his needs so clearly. I have been making it a point to spend some extra special time with him while she is napping and/or gone to bed so that we still have "dates" together. Yesterday at nap time, Ty and I went to the barbers to get him his hair cut. Last night after she went to bed we had some "normal routine" snuggle time as well. I am really trying to make sure his adjustments and needs are met and I think I am doing a good job thus far.

I am so happy I got to spend time with Tamaya in Haiti. A whole lot of the key bonding I got to do with her in Haiti. She clearly knows who her maman is and there is no confusion about it...lol I am looking forward to when she is well bonded to Steve as well so I can get away for a few hours for some much needed me time ;-) She knows who papa is, and approaches him slowly. They have had some special moments... but all will come with time. Steve has now started his leave for the next 3 weeks, which will be great to get this bonding/family time on the road!

Tamaya and Ty are so similar in so many ways. They both have very strong personalities... I thought this would be a negative, but I can see how its working out. For example, Ty took a toys from her and she had no problems letting him know that NO it was hers and he backed off..lol Often times a child that is with Ty could potentially just give in and same is true with her... She has no problems letting him know when she is unhappy with the situation, and neither does he. I played referee the first couple days and now they seem to be able to find a way to work things out (with my watchful "hairy" eyeballs of course..lol)

All in all Tamaya is a sweet, loving toddler. She is so full of life, so full of energy, so full of love. Her speech is good (in french) and she is able to communicate with me what she needs. She fully understands me and has since the beginning which has really helped us both. It's actually even helping Ty talk a bit of French again. She is a copycat which is good, she will repeat any words that I ask her to, and even when I don't. Her favorite words to repeat are "relax and calm"..lol and when she says them its too funny. She calls Ty either Tom or Tyrorone..lol
When I give her "THE LOOK" she will often look at me and give kisses in the air... yup, another comedian in the house. I can assure you when those sweet little lips start the muah, muah, muah in the air, all of what she was getting the look for usually is forgotten and brings a laugh out and she knows it works.

My love for her is unbelievable! It's the real deal, the real momma love that she has so deserved for so long and boy oh boy was she ever worth every pain staking moment of this hell of a roller coaster ride. I finally have my 2 children and hubby exactly where they belong, under our roof, in my presence and never ever again will I have to long for the day that my family is complete, because it is... It's done!!! WOW!

A little bit of a whole lot of feelings...

Everything is so surreal. I am so happy to be home and to finally be started our adjustment period. It's nothing like I expected!!!

Where do I start?

Being a parent of 2 has so many different challenges. I am looking forward to the day when it is just a natural everything day part of my life and that I am used to it..lol I have been sick these past couple days (with the same thing I had the 2nd week I was in Haiti) and I am still exhausted, so I am really trying hard to make sure that even though I am not feeling well both of my children's needs are met. My mom is here for the next few days to help out (THANK GOD), I have yet to unpack the van. My house is a mess and I need to get myself into a routine to keep my sanity..lol But for now my kids come first and all will fall into place (soon I hope..lol)

Ty has NOT started school yet :-) when my mom went in on Monday to register him they suggested he start on Wednesday, well Wednesday came and there was no way I was going to send him after we had all pulled an all nighter. So I have decided some much needed family time was in order and he is going to start this coming Monday. I didn't miss his first day of school!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT.

Ty is doing remarkably well thus far. I am surprised at some of the reactions he has had. The first time I gave his sister a time-out (because she kicked him) he was upset with me and started giving me a blast. I sat with him and explained that although he really cared about her, she wasn't allowed to hit, kick etc. That she had to also follow the rules and that eventually she would also learn everything he did. He was ok with that explanation and when she came out of her punishment he told her he didn't like it when she kicked and she had to say sorry to him..lol The next time Tamaya had a time-out his reaction was not a bad as the first, but he was very up-set because she was hitting and kicking me. When she was coming out of her time-out he took her by the hand and said "c'mon and sit down, we need to have a talk"...lol I have had to remind him a few times that I was the mom.. ;-)
He has only said I am not her brother anymore a couple times.. ;-) He muttered under his breath that he was going to bring her back to Haiti. but he has also loved on her, given her hugs, offered her his favorite pillow, and is doing all he can to be a good big brother. It's pretty amazing to see really.
Last night when I was done given tamaya her bath and he was still in the tub he screamed out "hey mom I need to be cared for to you know!" I took it as my hint that he needed some extra mommy time.. ;-) So all in all my son is doing ok!

Tamaya's been having some BIG adjustments to our home life. She was petrified when she met the pets. I figured she would be considering she would freak if she even seen an animal on TV in our room at the hotel. She is now ok if the cats are in the same room and she even poked Jake (the Siamese) yesterday while he was sitting on my lap. She still screeches when she sees the dog, but it will come with time I am sure. She was freaked out by walking on carpet the first time, but now she is ok with it.

Having spent a whole lot of time bonding with her alone she is actually having a hard time sharing me with Ty. I never really thought that it would be her that would be jealous of him, but considering our pre-home bonding I can certainly understand. She is eating well and sleeping well. She is enjoying spending time with Ty and they get supper crazy together. The noise level in the house has gone up a WHOLE bunch. We have been keeping quiet here for the most part. We did go for a little walk up and down the road and she loves running around outside with Ty. She chases him around and he loves it. She is such a cutie pie and such a great addition to our family. She is ALL girl and loves getting dressed in her new FALL/WINTER clothes..lol Thank goodness I spent so much time in Haiti... she at least got to wear her summer clothes.

Well I should get going to start my day. I am sure it will be very interesting..lol

I will be sure to post more pics today ;-)

lounging in her bikini by the pool the day before we left.

At the airport waiting to board our plane

Bye-bye... On the plane coming home

Finally my 2 children together...

Checking out her new bro...

Playing with her dolls (AT HOME!!!)...

Playing dolls with her bro

My children together at last...

HOME SWEET HOME...

Everything happened so fast these last couple days. On Monday I received news in the afternoon that Tamaya's passport was done. I called American Airlines to book my tickets to come home for Thursday/Friday and was told I no longer had a credit towards my flight because I had not used it within a month (I was told my credit was good for a year!) So I called Air Canada... it was a long shot that I would get on the next day flight, but I would at least try. There was 2 tickets available in first class and I booked them right away. Tuesday morning I ran to the O directors house to get my paper work so that I could apply for her visa and within 20 minutes our lady at the embassy had us good to go with time to spare to catch our flight :-)

When we arrived in CANADA the immigration line was endless and I knew there was NO way I would be able to catch my connecting flight to Ottawa from Montreal. I was determined to get home strait away and managed to catch a last minute bus going from Montreal to Ottawa.

Tamaya and I were greeted at the bus depot at 2am by Ty, Steve and my mom and my aunt Martha!!! I cried like a baby when I held Ty again and my mom held Tamaya. We got home at 4ish and it was nice to finally be home safe and sound.

Tamaya is having her nap. The adjustment to Canadian life has now started for her. The car seats, the pets and just plain ol' being part of of family of four.

I will post pictures in the next day or 2 I am sooooo tired and just running on adrenaline..lol

Thanks again for all of your support and kind words, it was needed and well appreciated.

Sue

maybe next weekend...

Sorry I haven't been really good at up-dating. I have been trying really hard to find out the status of things. Our file was finally released from MOI after much pressure put on the director. It was released to immigration on Monday and when we got to immigration to apply for her passport there was conflicting info in her documents that has had to be changed. (the form I needed to get her out of MOI is the one causing her problem - go figure)

We are now hoping her passport will be applied for on Monday and we are told we should have it in hand by Wednesday...lol *I WILL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT* Her Canadian visa will only take an hour to get, then I need a travel visa to travel through the U.S. with her, and that should take a day to get. So as slow as things are going there has been so slow and steady progress and I can't wait to get home to my Ty and Steve.

We have waited as long as we can to put off getting Ty into school so I wouldn't miss his first day of school, but now her starts on Monday and I will miss getting him off to school. It breaks my heart :-( I guess as a very involved mom never thought in a million years that I would have missed this very special milestone. I guess I can't be in 2 places at once!

This has been a long, hard fight and I will be so happy when it's OVER and I have my family all together under one roof.

Thanks for all your support I can't tell you how much it means to me and how much I need it!

Sue